Sonic Adventure
by XFangHeartX
Summary: Summary inside. Read and review, and no flames or hate! May contain slight SonAmy.
1. Prologue

SONIC ADVENTURE

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Sonic the Hedgehog © SEGA~!

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Summary- When Dr. Eggman unleashes a mysterious creature upon Station Square, it's up to Sonic and friends to stop it! However, there may be to Chaos that meets the eye. Also, what is with this little ball of light that follows everybody around? Find out in Sonic Adventure!

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 **Prologue**

It was a dark and stormy night. High up in the clouds, reaching the mountain peaks, is Angel Island, an island of mystery. Some say it's not of this planet. Others say it's from another dimension…but if one were ever fortunate enough to actually visit the island, its only inhabitant would tell you that those are nothing, for he is the only one who knows the truth behind Angel Island, for at its center sits the Master Emerald, a giant, green gemstone, glowing in all its brilliance…and sitting before it sits its guardian: Knuckles the Echidna, who is…

"ZZZZZZZZZZZ…!"

…sleeping on the job.

 _My name is Knuckles_. _Knuckles the Echidna…and as far back as I can remember…probably since I was just a child, I've been sitting here on Angel Island in solitude, guarding the Master Emerald from anyone or anything that dared to harm it. Honestly, I don't know whose bright idea was it to put me in charge of guarding it…but if that is to be my destiny, to be stuck on this island forever…then so be it._

 _Besides, what could happen?_

 **SMASH!**

Knuckles snorted in alarm as he sat up, accidentally swallowing the twig he had in his mouth.

"What the heck?!" the echidna questioned as he whirled around, only to gasp upon seeing a strange-looking creature standing before him. It stood on two legs, like a humanoid, with glowing light green eyes. Its arms hung at its sides with the claw-like fingers on each hand, but what stood out most was the fact that the creature looked like it was made entirely of water, with a pink brain being seen right in its head.

Behind, a tiny little ball of orange light fluttered away into the distance.

"Hey!" shouted Knuckles, pointing his fist at the creature. "Who are you!? What are you doing on my island?!" At that moment, the crimson-furred echidna gasped in horror upon seeing the one thing he feared: the Master Emerald shattered into pieces!

"Oh, no!" Knuckles cried. "The Master Emerald! It's destroyed!" He then turned and growled at the mysterious intruder. "You…you did this, didn't you?! I ought to…RAAAAAAARRRGH!"

With that guttural roar of fury, Knuckles rushed the creature with his fists reeled back, but the creature jumped over him, at least 9 feet in the air before coming back down and knocking the echidna back, causing him to go tumbling down the stairs.

"OOF! UGH! URGH! AAH!" Knuckles grunted as he fell down the steps and eventually landed on his head. "Unh…thank goodness for hard heads…!"

Shaking off his pain and disorientation, Knuckles went rushing back up to the shrine, but when he got back up there, he saw the creature, melting itself down into a puddle, its green eyes narrowing at the echidna almost hatefully before it soon slithered away.

"Hey! You get back here!" Knuckles barked as he tried to chase it, but it was already gone. "Dang it! What the heck was that thing, anyway?!"

 **RRRRMMMMMMMBB!** All of a sudden, the ground shook beneath Knuckles' feet, causing him to gasp.

"Oh, no," he whispered. "I was afraid of this…without the Master Emerald's power, Angel Island will fall into the ocean!"

In his panic…Knuckles failed to notice the tiny ball of light from earlier, flying away into the distance. All he could do was grab onto something tight as Angel Island rumbled and shook as it began to plummet towards the sea, faster than one could say "Red Hot Rock" and landed with a titanic crash, sending massive waves throughout the ocean.

"Ugh…" Knuckles groaned as he found himself at the bottom of the stairs, once again on his noggin. "Okay, this is just getting embarrassing."

He then grunted as he stood up, looking out towards the bridge that would take him to the mainland…leading towards the Mystic Ruins.

"Well…I guess it's not so bad," the echidna mused, rolling his shoulders so they would pop. "I actually have talked a lot about coming here…to myself, anyway. Besides, the pieces of the Master Emerald won't find themselves, so I have to start somewhere."

On that, Knuckles began his epic search…

XXX

Meanwhile, deep in the lush jungle of the Mystic Ruins, there sits a small hut made of old logs and a roof made with palm leaves, and in that little hut…sits one big purple cat, appropriately named, well…Big the Cat.

"ZZZZZZZ…fish…! ZZZZZZZZ…!" the big purple feline snored.

After a long day of fishing near his favorite, Big tired out rather quickly. It was in his nature, seeing as how he was quite the lazy fellow. No one could blame him, really. Fishing is said to be a relaxing pastime, that is if you're not one of those competitive folks.

As Big snored away, the ground suddenly trembled, and while it wasn't enough to rouse the large cat from his slumber, it was certainly enough to startle his little friend, Froggy. As the little amphibian looked around, he spotted what looked like water rising up from the stream.

' _That doesn't look good,'_ thought the little frog. _'The stream wasn't that big earlier today…'_

Curiosity overcoming caution, Froggy hopped off of Big's belly and went outside to investigate.

' _Hmmm…nothing else unusual out here,'_ he thought before he suddenly spotted something. _'Wait…what's that?'_

What it was a strange blue puddle of some sort…and it looked like it was moving on its own. In fact, it was slithering right towards him!

Froggy let out a croak of alarm, but before he could turn and run… **GULP!** The puddle seemed to leap into the little frog's mouth and force its way down his throat!

"Unh…huuuuh…!" Big yawned as he suddenly stirred, sitting up and scratching his white-furred chest. At that moment, he spotted Froggy. "Huh? Froggy? What are you doing up so late, buddy?"

Froggy just sat there, frozen and eyes fixated, and that's when Big noticed something strange: last he checked, frogs didn't have tails, especially a long tail with a diamond-shaped tip.

"Hey, Froggy," Big said, confused. "Where'd you get that weird tail from?"

' _Big…help me, you dummy…!'_ thought Froggy, turning himself around and hopping behind his friend before he found the dazzling yellow gem that Big found yesterday morning and kept it as a lucky charm, but it was not just any dazzling yellow gem: Big had found a Chaos Emerald.

As Big turned around, he heard a **GULP** sound and gasped in shock as he saw Froggy swallow it!

"Hey!" the cat cried. "What'd you do that for, Froggy?! That was my lucky charm!"

' _I'm not doing this on purpose!'_ thought Froggy as he turned around and hopped away. _'It's this tail! It's like it's got a mind of its own!'_

"Wait! Froggy, come back!" cried Big as he tried to follow him, but being such a hefty feline, he seemed to run out of breath rather quickly. As he did, he watched in concern as his little amphibian companion just kept bounding away. "Oh, Froggy…what's wrong with you? You and I have been friends since I was just a kitten…!"

Sniffling, Big wiped away his tears and put on a determined expression, that was rarely ever seen.

"Don't worry, buddy!" he declared. "I'll bring you home and we can still be friends!"

A pause…but then Big's ears drooped and his eyes hooded sleepily.

"But first…a little nap."

 **FWUMP!** He then flopped down on his back and snored away.

XXX

Later that night, in the big, busy city of Station Square, people are still walking along the streets. Most would be asleep by now, but even the nightlife of Station Square proved to be eventful. In fact, a police helicopter is hovering above the buildings…with a familiar little ball of light floating after it.

At that moment, a blue blur raced by, hopping across rooftops and jumping off street signs. As the figure landed upon a rooftop, it is revealed to be none than Sonic the Hedgehog, who had recently been on vacation until tonight.

As Sonic stood up on the rooftops, he spotted the helicopter blitzing by.

"I'm back for only 5 minutes, and already something's up," the hedgehog said before smirking. "Just the way I like it!"

On that, he heard the wailing of sirens coming from somewhere nearby, and as he looked down, he saw police cars and SWAT team trucks, tearing through the streets. One even almost hit a woman had she not gotten out of the way in time.

"Okay," Sonic said. "Now I GOTTA check this out."

And away he leapt.

At the First National Bank of Station Square, the police had the area surrounded, guns trained on the intruder: the very same creature that attacked Knuckles on Angel Island, which stood upon a roof, glowering down at the law enforcement.

"You are completely surrounded!" shouted the chief through a bullhorn. "Put your hands in the air and get down on the ground!"

The creature seemed to hiss at them before it leapt down and landed before them.

"You asked for this!" the chief shouted. "All right, men! OPEN FIRE!"

 **BANG! BANG-BANG! BANG!** On that order, the police and SWAT teams began to fire their guns at the creature. However, as the bullets made contact…they fell through the being's body while the creature itself remained.

"Uh…Chief?" asked one of the officers. "I don't think it's working!"

"Guns are useless against that thing!" the chief cried. "RETREAT! ALL PERSONNEL, FALL BACK!"

"YOU DON'T GOTTA TELL US TWICE!" the other officers shouted before they got back in their patrol cars and sped off…leaving Sonic to face the creature alone, an almost smug grin on the hedgehog's face.

"This should prove entertaining," Sonic said. "Been a while since I had some fun. All right, you walking puddle! Bring it!"

 **BOSS: CHAOS 0**

Sonic charged at his opponent, who leapt over him, the same way he did when Knuckles tried to attack. However, this time, his arm stretched out, trying to grab the hedgehog, but as always, Sonic proved to be too fast. He jumped over the tendril-like arm before curling up into a ball, preparing to use his Spin Dash attack, but as he sped through Chaos 0, he realized it made no effect, for his liquid body began to repair itself.

"Okay, that obviously didn't work," Sonic noted, but then he gasped as Chaos 0 hit him in the face with his arm, smacking him into a wall. "OOF! Ugh…okay, not cool…!"

Chaos 0 seemed to hiss at him before stretching his arm out, once again, but once again, Sonic dodged the attack, leaping up high into the air, and when he did, he looked down at Chaos, whose glowing green eyes glared up at him. That's when the blue hedgehog spotted something: Chaos 0's brain.

"I wonder…" Sonic muttered before curling up into a ball and hurtling towards Chaos O's head, landing a Homing Attack on the creature's brain and causing his body to splatter. "Yes!"

However, it proved to be too soon to celebrate, for Chaos 0 soon reformed himself and leapt up onto a flagpole, stretching his arm out to grab Sonic, again, but the Blue Blur dodged left and right, and even let out a mocking yawn of boredom.

"Got any more tricks, buddy?" Sonic asked, only to be smacked away into a wall, once more. "…Okay, I really gotta learn to keep my mouth shut, sometimes."

Chaos 0 jumped down, glaring at Sonic and moving in to try and finish him…"try" being the keyword.

 **ZIP! BOOSH!** Sonic, using yet another Homing Attack on Chaos 0's brain and sending him back into his puddle form.

"Oh, yeah!" he cheered. "C'mon, big guy! I can do this all night!"

Chaos 0 growled, seeming frustrated with Sonic's cockiness. He stretched out both arms and began to whirl around like a helicopter rotor with his fists glowing purple, but Sonic only smirked as he jumped over the appendages, at first with both legs, and then using one leg each, like he was playing Double-Dutch.

"C'mon," Sonic said, looking out to the fourth wall. "Even heroes gotta have fun, once in a while."

Soon, Chaos 0 stopped and began wobbling around, dizzily. Smirking, once more, Sonic saw his chance.

"And now for the win!" he shouted before he leapt up and kicked Chaos 0 in his brain, this time sending him against the wall, splattering all over like a popped can of chili. The creature slid down to the ground before slithering off towards a sewer drain.

"C'mon, you big drip!" Sonic taunted as he followed. "Where do you think you're goin'?!"

Soon, Chaos 0 disappeared beneath the grate, leaving Sonic confused.

"What was that thing?" he asked.

High up on a building to Sonic's left, a shadowy figure grinned evilly as a white gloved finger brushed his orange-brown mustache.

"You know nothing, fool," he muttered. "It's Chaos…the God of Destruction! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA~! AHAHAHA-AHA-ACK-KOFF-KOFF! Urrgh…I gotta lay off that gelato…"

 **SONIC ADVENTURE**

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Yeah...I just couldn't help myself. XD

Sonic Adventure was the very first Sonic game I ever played. That was back in the year 2001, when I was only 5. Of course, back then, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and my brother took over for me. The second Sonic game I ever played was Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, followed by Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Riders, and...actually, that's it.

Anyway, I'll still be doing One Piece stories. As soon as The Island of Children is done, I'll be uploading One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, as promised. ;)

Review, please!


	2. Ch 1- The Adventure Begins

**Ch. 1- The Adventure Begins**

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Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega

Ace the Chao © Me

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The following day, everything seemed to return to normal in Station Square, as if the attack of the strange water monster from last night didn't happen…even though it's pretty much all over the news right now, but for the time being, the focus is on someone else. Particularly up in the air, where a certain young two-tailed fox kit sits in a silver biplane, alongside his peculiar cohort.

Miles "Tails" Prower and his pet Chao, Ace, are out taking the former's new prototype plane for a test flight…complete with an unusual power source. Since Sonic had been gone for a while and left Tails and Ace at home to look after themselves, the two had a lot of free time on their hands. Plus, when was the last time they got to have a good flight?

"So far, so good, Ace," Tails said to the little Chao in his lap. "All systems go, full speed ahead!"

"Chao-Chao!" Ace chirped.

All of a sudden, the plane's engine started sputtering.

"Uh-oh," Tails muttered. "This can't be good…!"

Then, **BOOM!** The engine exploded, a trail of smoking bursting out and blinding the fox's vision.

"AAAAAAAH!" Tails screamed as he tried his best to steer. "HANG ON TIGHT, ACE!"

"CHAO!" Ace cried out as the plane started spiraling out of control, sending the two riding around in different directions and making a nosedive towards Station Square's busy streets!

"WHOA!" Tails cried. "I'M OUTTA CONTROL! MAYDAY, MAYDAY! GOING DOWN!"

Ace whimpered, using his stubby hands to cover his eyes in fright as Tails desperately tried to pull up, and as people spotted him, they gasped and immediately rushed out of the way until he managed to ascend.

"We're gonna make it," Tails said, pulling on the steering wheel. "We're gonna make it! We're gonna make it!"

 **SNAP!** The steering wheel snapped off.

"…And thus fate deals a cruel hand," the fox muttered before he and Ace began screaming their heads off.

XXX

Meanwhile, at Station Square's Emerald Coast Resort, Sonic is lounging on a beach chair, drinking a glass of fruit punch.

"Ahh…" he sighed. "What a perfect day to do nothing but relax."

Despite this, Sonic couldn't help but think about that creature he saw last night. Of course, he would be all over the news, but it hadn't been seen since then. He almost wondered what had happened to that…whatever it was, but for now, he wouldn't dwell on it. After all, Sonic was a man- err, hedgehog- who only lived in the present and not the past.

As Sonic continued his lounging, his ears picked up the familiar sound of a plane's engine. He soon sat up, his eyes blinking awake.

"Huh?" he muttered as he soon spotted Tails and Ace, embracing each other in fright. "What the…Tails and Ace?! H-hey, watch out! You guys are gonna crash!"

Too late. The plane disappeared beyond Sonic's sight and landed somewhere on the beach with a ground-shaking **CRASH!** The sound was enough to make Sonic cringe.

"Tails!" he groaned. "Oh, man…what am I gonna do with you, li'l bro?"

With a shrug, Sonic soon dashed off, heading towards the beach, kicking up a strong wind as he raced passed many beachgoers, who waved to him as they saw their favorite True Blue Hero.

"I leave for only a week-and-a-half," he mutters to himself, "and the kid still manages to get into trouble when I'm not around. Sheesh!"

Of course, Sonic was only saying this to hide how worried he was for his little brother's wellbeing, as well as Ace's. Of course, Sonic would usually put on the "I'm cool, so nothing fazes me" act, but with some who were close to him, that wouldn't last long enough, because he'd usually panic in the next second or so and race to his rescue.

"Which I happen to be doing now," the hedgehog spoke up. "Hang on, Tails, 'cuz here I come!"

With that, Sonic curled up and did his signature Spin Dash move, blitzing across the sand and destroying several robots along the way. He was soon sent into the air by a Dash Ramp, and, just for kicks, he decided to pull off several midair tricks before he landed on the pier.

"To be fair, nobody was looking," the hedgehog spoke up as he ran along the pier. "So, technically, I'm not showing off."

Suddenly, Sonic felt the pier shake, nearly causing the Blue Blur to lose his footing, and as he looked back, a huge, black dorsal fin jutted up from the ocean's surface and smashed through the wood. Upon getting a closer look, Sonic saw that it is an orca whale, not that it didn't surprise him. Orcas are a pretty popular species here in Emerald Coast, and this one more than likely just wanted to play. So, why not entertain the big guy a little?

With a smirk growing on his face, Sonic ran along the pier as fast as he could while orca gave chase, smashing up the wooden pier as it did.

"Not bad!" Sonic exclaimed.

' _Although, as much as I like to,'_ he thought, _'I can't run forever!'_

Just as soon as he thought this thought, Sonic hit another Dash Ramp, sending him flying away into the air while the orca just swam away.

"Thanks for the race, big guy!" the hedgehog called out to the marine mammal. "Let's have one again, sometime!"

As he landed on an island, Sonic did another Spin Dash, heading into a loop and running along a cliff face. Then, he ran down a long, winding tunnel before hitting another spring that propelled him towards some Spinner Bots.

"Oh, no, you don't," Sonic said before he curled up into a ball and slammed into the bots, one after another, with his Homing Attack, sending them all crashing into a rock wall and causing them all to explode, as well as freeing the little animals inside. "No one's keeping me from saving my little buddy and _his_ little buddy, so stay outta my way!"

He then landed on the sand below, but no sooner did he do so that he narrowly avoided getting hit by a bomb. He looked up and saw a bunch of monkey-like robots, chucking bombs at him.

"What did I just say?!" the hedgehog questioned before he revved up another Spin Dash and jumped up, using his Homing Attack on the robots before continuing onward. "I've been stalled long enough, thank you!"

As he made his way up a grassy hill, Sonic looked around, trying to get a better vantage point and hoping to find Tails and Ace soon, and upon seeing a plume of smoke not too far off in the distance, he knew that they were somewhere up ahead.

"Hang in there, Tails," Sonic said. "I'm coming!"

XXX

"Unh…where am I…?"

Tails groaned as he held his head, his vision blurry as he began to come out of unconscious. Ace sat next to him, his eyes rolling with dizziness.

"Man…what a crash that was," Tails muttered as he shook his head, but as he blinked his eyes, he saw a white-gloved hand outstretched to him. The fox slowly raised his head up, he gasped upon seeing Sonic, smiling at him.

"Hey, bud," the hedgehog said. "You okay?"

"Sonic!" Tails cheered as he sprung to his feet and wrapped his older brother figure in a hug. Sonic was taken aback at first before he chuckled and hugged the two-tailed kitsune back.

"Yeah, you're okay," Sonic said. "It's good to see you again, buddy."

"Chao! Chao-Chao!" Ace chirped as he sat on the blue hedgehog's head.

"Good to see you, too, Ace!" Sonic answered. "C'mon, let's get you two outta here."

"Sounds good to me," Tails agreed.

On that, the trio headed back to civilization.

XXX

Back at the resort, Sonic, Tails, and Ace had just arrived.

"Thanks again for saving us, Sonic," Tails spoke up.

"Chao!" Ace squeaked.

"You're sure lucky I saw you two come down," replied Sonic. "What happened back there, anyway, Tails? You're way too good a pilot to just up and crash, like that!"

"I didn't mean to scare you, Sonic," Tails said. "Heck, I didn't even know you saw me!"

"Who said anything about me being scared?" Sonic asked, his hands on his hips. "I was startled, yes, but not scared!"

(A/N: Sure you weren't, you big softie.)

"Well, Ace and I were just testing out a new prototype propulsion system," Tails replied with Ace perched on his head. "I still have to work out a few kinks and such, that's all."

"Tails, if you wanted to fly, you can always use my plane, the _Tornado_ ," Sonic answered. "You know I hardly use her anymore."

"The _Tornado_ is a very good plane, Sonic," Tails began, "but, and I don't mean any offense, I don't think she can handle this new kind of power supply."

"New power supply?" Sonic repeated.

"Yeah! Check it out!" Tails answered as he reached inside his namesakes and pulled out a familiar purple gemstone, causing Sonic's jaw to drop.

"Is…is that I think it is?!" the hedgehog asked.

"Yup!" Tails replied, beaming proudly like a kid in a candy store. "It's a Chaos Emerald! Ace and I found it last week while we were out flying! These things have unlimited power, you know, so I thought that maybe I could use it to power up my plane!"

"Chao-Chao!" Ace chirped, feeling just as proud as his guardian.

Sonic whistled, impressed.

"That'd be something, li'l bro!" he exclaimed.

"I knew you'd say that!" Tails said. "Why don't we go back to the house in the Mystic Ruins? I got something I wanna show you at my workshop! The fastest way there is by train!"

' _Fastest, my blue-furred butt,'_ thought Sonic.

"Come on!" Tails said as he headed for the train station. "Let's go, Sonic!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Sonic replied before he followed after the little fox and his Chao. "Besides, it's just a short train ride. How long would it take?"

XXX

"I just HAD to say something, huh?"

Sonic sat in his seat, feeling the rumbling of the train beneath him as it rolled along the track. The hedgehog always hated riding the train from Station Square to the Mystic Ruins and back. It only took about 30 minutes to ride, but to Sonic, that was way too long.

The ride wasn't too bad. At least Tails is here with him.

Speaking of Tails, the fox leaned against his right side, snoring softly while holding a snoozing Ace in his arms. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle a little as he gently pet the fox's bangs.

"Kid seems to get jetlag faster than I do," the hedgehog quipped.

"Oh, he's so precious!" said a woman, eying Tails as he slumbered. "Is he yours?"

"…He's my little brother," Sonic smiled.

"Oh, well, isn't that nice?" asked the woman. "Where'd you find him?"

"On Westside Island, 4 years ago," Sonic answered. "He's been with me, since…kid's pretty much like my shadow."

Tails yawned as he nuzzled his older brother's side, his ear twitching in his sleep. As he did, Sonic began to think on how much Tails had matured since he had been with him. He was a lot more outgoing now rather than the timid fox kit he met 4 years ago. Still, one thing that had yet to change was the fact that the kit still seemed to be dependent on the hedgehog. However, it wasn't that Sonic didn't want Tails around. He truly enjoyed his company…but he was hoping that one day, the kitsune would learn to be more independent and not rely on him or anyone else so much. He may be eight years old, but he did have an IQ of 300 and seemed capable of taking care of himself, so why not?

Suddenly, Sonic felt the train slow to a stop.

" **Arriving at Mystic Ruins."**

"Thank the stars," Sonic said before he shook Tails awake. "Tails. Tails, wake up, kiddo. We're here."

With a yawn, Tails and rubbed his eye, followed by Ace, who let an adorable yawn of his own. Soon, the they got off the train, standing on the old, wooden platform that is the Mystic Ruins train station. They took this time to stretch their legs and get their bodies awake.

"Hey, Sonic!" Tails spoke up, suddenly. "Wanna race?"

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"C'mon! For old times' sake!" Tails answered.

"Chao-Chao! Chao!" Ace chirped, sitting on Tails' head once again.

"Well…okay!" Sonic answered. "Why not?"

"Great!" Tails said before he crouched into position. "On your mark…get set-"

"GO!" Sonic shouted before he took off running.

"Hey!" Tails cried before twirled his tails together and flew after him with Ace hanging onto his ears. Before too long, they caught up to Sonic, who smiled and laughed as the two went racing through the jungle together, bobbing and weaving around the trees, jumping over ponds, logs, and rocks, and racing over grassy hills. Soon, their house came into view.

"Final stretch, buddy!" Sonic called out to Tails, who laughed as he kicked the air to get an extra boost. Sonic smirked before he curled up to use his Spin Dash, blitzing through the jungle before they both reached the stairs and stood in their front yard. Tails panted, his hands on his knees, before he looked up at Sonic, who smirked.

"Looks like you beat me, little bud," the hedgehog said.

"Yeah, right," Tails huffed. "You…let me win."

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked. "I didn't do any such thing."

But then…

"OHOHOHOHO! Well, well, well! If it isn't Sonic and Tails! …And their little pet, too…"

The trio looked up to see a familiar round machine, being driven by an also familiar, mustachioed man.

"Well, look at that, Tails!" Sonic said. "It's a giant talking egg!"

"It's Eggman!" Tails added, joining in on the ribbing.

"Chao!" squeaked Ace.

"Rrrgh! Silence!" shouted Dr. Robotnik. "I am Dr. _Robotnik_ , you twits! The greatest scientific mind in the world!"

"Whatever you say, Eggman," Sonic quipped, causing the mad scientist to growl and slam his fists on the dashboard in frustration and Tails and Ace to giggle.

"Enough of this!" Eggman barked. "I've got big plans, and now, I'm going to put them to work!"

"You're always up to no good!" Tails spat. "Now what are you up to?!"

"I see no reason to tell you," said Eggman. "All I want is that Chaos Emerald you have! Now hand it over and don't interfere, or else!"

"Or else what, you big loser?" Sonic asked.

"Or else I'll take it from you by force!" Eggman shouted as he flew off, momentarily, only to return with several extensions to his Egg-Mobile.

"Oh, are thruster engines?" Tails asked.

"Oh, yes!" answered Eggman. "I bought them from the hardware last week for a steal at only 150 Rings! I…wait! You little twerp! Now you're just getting me sidetracked! Prepare to face the sting of my Egg Hornet! OHOHOHOHOHO-HACK-HACK-KOFF! Urgh…!"

Sonic rolled his eyes before he glanced at Tails, who glanced back at him and grinned.

"You ready to go, bud?" Sonic asked.

"You bet!" Tails answered. "Ace, you better stay on the sidelines for right now."

Ace nodded before he flapped his little pink wings and flew off to a safe distance.

 **BOSS: EGG HORNET**

"Take this, fools!" shouted Eggman before he fired miniature missiles at the duo, who both jumped away to dodge.

"Missiles?" Sonic asked as he easily sidestepped out of the way. "Oh, come on, Eggman! I could avoid these in my sleep!"

"Talk about lame!" Tails agreed, although he narrowly managed to duck another missile but tried to be cool about it.

"Oh, yeah?" the mad doctor asked. "Well, take this! All systems, full power!"

Soon, a set of drills came out of the front of the Egg Hornet as it glowed a hot pink before it tried to plow into the two, but once again, they dodged as it ended up hitting the ground. Sonic used this opportunity to use a Homing Attack to hit the doctor.

"AGH!" Eggman shouted as sparks flew out, but he managed to pull his machine out of the ground. This time, he attempted to do it again, but this time, instead of going for Sonic, he went for Tails instead.

"Yikes!" the fox yelped as he tried to run, but then Sonic ran up and pushed him out of the way, as well as avoid the Egg Hornet's drill, which ended up hitting the cliff behind them. However, as Tails stood up, he saw that Sonic didn't avoid it completely, for he saw a small but noticeable nick on the hedgehog's right arm.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, worriedly.

"It's a scratch!" Sonic rebuked. "Don't worry about it!"

' _So Eggman thinks he can try and get a leg up on my buddy, huh?'_ he thought. _'Not while I'm here!'_

"Why you little pest!" Eggman shouted before he fired more missiles at them. "Take this!"

Grabbing Tails by the hand, Sonic began to dart this way and that, avoiding the projectiles. However, as one more missile headed towards them, Tails managed to wrench his arm free before he jumped and whacked it away with his namesakes.

"Yes!" the kit cheered.

"Not bad, bud!" Sonic praised, causing Tails to beam at him. However, the moment was short-lived, for the Egg Hornet made another dive at them. They ducked down, avoiding the machine's deadly drills before Tails began to curl, performing a Spin Dash of his own before he slammed into the machine.

"Got it!" Tails cheered. "Sonic, did you see me?! I hit him!"

"It's not over yet, Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. "Look out behind you!"

Tails gasped before he dodged more missiles, but this time, he flew toward Sonic and grabbed him, pulling him up into the air above Eggman.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Tails asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic answered with a grin. "Drop me!"

"Hedgehogs away!" Tails exclaimed before he dropped Sonic, who soon curled up into a ball and bashed into the Egg Hornet, which began to burst into flames before it completely fell apart!

"Arrrgh! Not again!" shouted Eggman. "I'm so angry!"

"Hi, So Angry," Sonic joked. "I'm Sonic. Nice to meet ya!"

Tails burst into laughter as he landed on the ground.

"Good one!" he said.

"That wasn't too hard, little bud," Sonic said, bumping his fist against the fox's.

"Yeah," Tails said, pulling out the Chaos Emerald from his namesakes. "That was almost too easy."

Just then, **YOINK!** A metal claw appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the emerald!

"Huh!?" the duo questioned before they looked up and saw Eggman, who held the gem betwixt his thumb and index finger.

"Looking for this?" he asked.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Tails shouted.

"I'm a villain, kid," said Eggman. "I don't play fair. Now, come on Chaos! Time for your snack!"

"Chaos?" Sonic repeated.

"Who the heck is Chaos?" asked Tails as Ace floated up beside him.

Soon, Sonic saw a familiar puddle of water slithering up beside Eggman, causing the hedgehog to gasp.

"Oh, no…" he whispered. "Don't tell me…!"

Soon, Chaos emerged from the puddle, glaring at Sonic with a vengeance.

"Shoot!" the hedgehog cursed. "It's that same monster from last night!"

"Uh…monster?!" Tails asked, looking at Chaos with fright.

"Chao! Chao-Chao-Chao!" Ace cried as he seemed to try and float towards Chaos, but Tails grabbed him and held him close.

"No, Ace!" the kitsune cried. "Are you outta your mind?!"

"Here you go, my friend!" said Eggman as he tossed the emerald to Chaos. There was a brief flash of light, but when it disappeared, the duo saw that the creature had gotten a bit taller now, and with some strange, bone-like structure in his right arm where the Chaos Emerald sits.

"Yes!" Eggman exclaimed. "It's just as the stone tablets predicted! OHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"What just happened?!" Sonic asked.

"He absorbed the emerald!" Tails exclaimed.

"Chao…" Ace squeaked, looking at Chaos worriedly.

"Now hear this, boys!" shouted Eggman. "Chaos' strength increases every time I feed him a Chaos Emerald, and once I feed him all 7 of the emeralds, he will achieve his most invincible form and work for me! Together, we will destroy the city of Station Square, and upon its ruins, I will build Robotnik Land, the ultimate city, where I will rule it all! OHOHOHOHO!"

"Typical bad guy," Sonic said. "Just goes and spouts out his plans like that, like always. So predictable!"

"Oh, quiet!" shouted Eggman. "I don't have to take that from you, you mutant blue rat!"

"Hey!" Sonic spat. "I'm not a rat, Egghead!"

"It's Eggman! I mean- ROBOTNIK!" shouted the doctor. "Oh, never mind! Let's go and find more emeralds, Chaos!"

With that, Eggman threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared, along with Chaos. Sonic, Tails, and Ace all coughed before the smoke disappeared.

"Who does he think he is?!" Sonic questioned.

"Sonic!" Tails cried. "We can't let Eggman get away with this, can we?!"

"No we won't, Tails," Sonic assured.

"Without more emeralds, that thing can't get any stronger, right?" Tails asked. "So, let's go and find the rest of those emeralds before Eggman does! It'll be just like the old days!"

"Another day, another adventure, I always say!" Sonic grinned. "So, let's go!"

"Yeah!" Tails exclaimed.

"Chao…" Ace squeaked, sounding rather unenthusiastic.

And thus…a new adventure had begun.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

For those of you who don't know who Ace the Chao is, read my story "Tails' New Pet".

Review, please!


	3. Ch 2- The Search

**Ch. 2- The Search**

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega

Ace the Chao © Me

* * *

"Tails, I thought we were in a hurry! Why are we in the house?"

"Just gimme a minute, Sonic! Uh…where did I put that thing? Hmmm…oh, wait is this…? Oh, no. Just a flashlight."

 **CLANK! CLUNK! CLACK!**

Various objects were being tossed outside of Tails' room while Sonic sat on the sofa, his head propped up on the arm and his feet on the coffee table. The hedgehog huffed in impatience as he waited for his little brother, not that anyone could blame him. The longer they waited, the bigger chance Eggman had of finding another Chaos Emerald.

Plus, Sonic tended to go a little stir crazy if he sat down for too long.

The hedgehog glanced over at Ace, who is munching on a papaya as he too waited for Tails.

"What's going on with you, Ace?" Sonic asked.

"Chao-Chao," Ace squeaked with a shrug before he continued his lunch.

"Found it!" Tails' voice called out as he exited his room, holding some sort of device in his hand. It looked like a computer screen with a yellow frame and two handles.

"What's that you got there, little bud?" Sonic asked.

"I call it the Miles Electric!" Tails answered. "It's a handheld supercomputer I made!"

"That right?" Sonic asked, giving an impressed grin. "What'd you bring it out for?"

"Well, I've been thinking," Tails started, "since we're going to be searching for the Chaos Emeralds, we're gonna need a little help, and then it hit me! The Miles Electric is synced up with the signature of a Chaos Emerald, so we can use this as a radar to track them down!"

"Tails, old buddy, you did it again!" Sonic said as he stood up with his hand on the fox's shoulder. "Seriously, where do you come with this stuff?"

"Chao! Chao-Chao-Chao!" Ace cheered, flying around his guardian's head.

"I have my moments," Tails said, beaming with pride as he held the Miles Electric in his hand. "You know, I made this using some old computer parts I found in the junkyard? I mean, who'd be stupid enough to throw away a perfectly good-"

"Ahem!" Sonic cleared his throat. "Tails, I hate to interrupt your 'techno-babble', but shouldn't you be tracking a Chaos Emerald?"

"Oh, right!" Tails said before he typed on the touch-pad screen. "Hmm…just a few calibrations and…oh! Found one!"

"That was fast," said Sonic. "Where is it?"

"Located somewhere in Windy Valley," Tails replied. "How about that? There was one close to where we live this whole time!"

"So that's why Eggman was here," Sonic noted, "and he might still be here looking for it! We got no time to lose!"

"Then let's roll!" Tails exclaimed. "Ace, you look after the place until we get back, okay?"

"Chao!" Ace saluted.

On that, the hedgehog-and-fox duo left the house, heading off to Windy Valley.

"How long has it been since we've been to Windy Valley, anyway?" Sonic asked as he and Tails walked down the stairs.

"Gee, when I think about it, I guess it's been about a month," Tails answered. "Running over hills and jumping on bridges, running with the wind, jumping into killer tornados…wait, what did I just say?"

 **THUD!** Suddenly, Tails tripped on something as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, landing snout-first in the grass.

"You okay, bud?" Sonic asked.

Tails pulled his face out of the dirt, spitting out grass and bits of gravel before he looked back and found some sort of green stone.

"Huh?" the fox muttered as he picked it up. "What's this thing?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sonic spoke up. "Isn't that the keystone to the tunnel that leads to Windy Valley?"

"Oh, yeah, it is!" Tails answered. "What's it doing all the way out here?"

"Must've been dislodged from its pedestal," Sonic replied. "Well, there's only one thing to do."

"Yep!" Tails agreed as he and Sonic headed off, running along the wooden plank bridge that covered the large fissure in the ground before entering the cavern that led to Windy Valley, the one with the strong updrafts. Sure enough, they found a pedestal with a familiar groove in it: the place where the keystone once sat.

"If you would be kind as to do the honors, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Why, I would be delighted, my good Sonic," Tails replied, chuckling at their banter before putting the keystone on the pedestal. In doing so, the updrafts grew even stronger, pushing up the debris that blocked the hole where it was coming from.

"And away we go~!" Sonic shouted before he jumped down into the hole, cheering all the way.

"Hey, Sonic!" Tails cried as he jumped in after him. "Wait up!"

XXX

Windy Valley: the windiest, craziest place in all of the Mystic Ruins…and Sonic loved it.

"WHOO-HOO!" Sonic hollered, picking up a trail of rings as he ran down the path while Tails flew up in the air, flying through some large metal hoops that were floating in mid-air.

"You just gotta love these Dash Rings!" Tails exclaimed as he raced through the air.

Sonic smirked before he ran up and bounced off a few springs, sending him higher and higher until he reached a chunk of land and ran along the metal bridge. As he did, a few Spinner Bots stood in his path. The hedgehog smirked before he jumped up, using his Homing Attack to smash the robots and free the animals trapped inside before continuing on with Tails flying next to him.

"Man, Eggman's robots are pretty much everywhere these days, huh?" Tails asked.

"Even if he's not even here, himself," Sonic quipped before he jumped up and smashed another robot, this one looking like some sort of purple serpent with fire jetting out from its side, thus releasing a tiny parrot inside. "See what I mean?"

"Sonic, look out!" Tails cried, pointing ahead. "Cliff!"

Unfortunately, it seemed Sonic heeded Tails' advice a bit too late, for he ended up stepping off the edge of a cliff and causing him to plummet down towards the bottom…or so it seemed. Just as Tails was ready to scream out his older brother's name in horror, the blue hedgehog suddenly floated up on an updraft.

"Huh!" Tails gasped, both in relief and surprise.

"What?" Sonic asked. "We've been here before, Tails, remember? Should've seen this coming."

"I-I know," Tails answered, turning his head away and crossing his arms, trying to look as cool as possible. "I wasn't worried. Not for a minute."

"Right," Sonic smirked before he literally _ran_ on the updraft. "Now you coming or what?"

Tails rolled his eyes before he followed after the hedgehog, using the wind to push his ascent skyward, as well as going through several Dash Rings to use as a bit of a shortcut to solid ground. Sonic appeared behind him not long after before speeding on ahead of him. Tails seemed to pout for a moment, but then he spotted something up ahead that made his heart sink into his chest: a humungous cyclone, spinning around uncontrollably…and Sonic was headed right for it.

"Uh…Sonic?" Tails asked, sweat-dropping. "I don't think that's a good idea!"

"Ah, c'mon, Tails!" Sonic replied. "It's not every day a cyclone appears in Windy Valley! Don't be such a worry-wart!"

"Uhh…I'm not sure about this," Tails muttered. "Maybe we should find another-"

"Less talk and more action, I always say!" Sonic interjected, grabbing the kitsune by his wrist. "So let's go!"

"Mommy…!" Tails squeaked before the due jumped into the cyclone, the fox screaming bloody murder the whole time.

XXX

The whole world was spinning around his head…literally. What would you expect if you were inside a giant cyclone?

"Get me outta here!" Tails cried as he was tossed around helplessly like a rag doll in the wind. It felt like that Whirl-And-Hurl ride that the carnival had last year, only there were no bars to hold him against the rotating walls. The poor fox covered his mouth, his stomach heaving and his face turning a sickly green color.

"Oh, boy," he gagged, but as he looked down, he soon overcame his nausea when he spotted Sonic, laughing wildly as he was also spun around by the wind before he landed on and ran along some debris, collecting the floating rings as he went.

"Sonic!" he called out. "Wait for me!"

On that, Tails sped off after him as fast as his namesakes could spin, using the Dash Rings to propel him forward. Before too long, he caught up to Sonic, shooting him a disdainful glare.

"Ah, c'mon, bud," Sonic said. "You aren't sore at me, are you? You gotta admit, it was a pretty fun ride!"

"Fun for you, maybe…" Tails muttered, rolling his eyes.

As the duo ran, Sonic soon found himself standing before a golden panel with the number 1 on it.

"What's this thing?" Sonic asked.

"Dunno," Tails answered. "Never saw it before."

Suddenly, a familiar little red ball of light appeared, floating towards Sonic's ear.

"Jump on Panel No. 1," she said. "It will take you two Panels 2 and 3. Jump as soon as you land on a panel, or else you'll fall."

"Huh?" Sonic murmured as he looked around, but saw nothing. "Hey, Tails, you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tails asked.

"…You know what? Never mind," Sonic answered before he backed up a bit before jumping on the golden panel, which abruptly caused him to jump on a second panel that was on a wind turbine, then a third, followed by a fourth, and then a fifth until he landed once again on solid ground.

"Well how about that?" Sonic asked.

"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed as he floated up beside him. "How'd you do that?!"

"I…I dunno," Sonic replied, "but no time to think about it now. We gotta motor!"

"Right!" Tails nodded before they both ran off. After passing the checkpoint, the duo soon came upon a trampoline. Curious, but not one to ask questions, Sonic just jumped up onto it, and once he gained an efficient height, he landed on a bridge which took him on the path to a spring, upon which he soon jumped, and soon after, he was sent bouncing across many more springs through the air until he ended up going out through the eye of the storm and into the blue, cloudy skies, filled with soaring eagles.

"Ahh…!" Tails sighed. "Finally out of that mess!"

"You enjoyed it," Sonic quipped. "Admit that you did."

"Yeah, right!" Tails replied before he looked down and saw another one of those viper robots. "Oh! I got this one!"

Using his Spin Dash attack, Tails slammed into the robot, smashing it into pieces and freeing the little gorilla inside of it.

"Seriously, though," Tails said. "It's like Eggman's robots are everywhere, even though he's not here!"

"Maybe he saw us coming and took precautions," Sonic replied. "Wouldn't put it passed Egghead."

They pressed onward, with Sonic destroying a rock wall in their path before they sped down, down, and down into a winding corkscrew before jumping off more springs (which didn't help quell Tails' earlier nausea). As they passed another checkpoint, Tails decided to take this moment to purge his stomach of its contents. After that, they continued onward, riding the updrafts and using them as invisible bridges…plus, it was just fun. As Sonic ran through loop-de-loops Tails kept using whatever Dash Rings he could find to get further ahead.

Then, as they neared one more corkscrew, they both something at the very bottom: a blue gem with a mystical glow.

"There it is!" Sonic exclaimed. "The Chaos Emerald!"

"Hey, Sonic!" Tails spoke up. "How about this? Whoever gets it first wins!"

"You're on, little bud!" Sonic answered.

"Okay! GO!" Tails shouted before he dove down to get the Emerald. Sonic, not one to lose a race, soon sped after him, running around the corkscrew with a determined grin, but as he got closer, he suddenly looked over at Tails, who had a determined expression of his own.

'… _Maybe he won't notice…'_ the hedgehog thought to himself before he suddenly stuck his foot out and wobbled a bit.

"Whoooooooaaa!" Sonic cried, flailing his arms about before he hit the ground, face-first. "OOF!"

Soon, Tails flew up to the Chaos Emerald and picked it up.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I got the Chaos Emerald!"

"Good job, buddy," Sonic said, dusting himself off. "You beat me."

"Yeah…I never saw you trip like that, though," Tails replied. "You didn't do that on purpose, did you?"

"What?" Sonic asked. "Nah, you must've been seeing things. Come on, let's go."

With that, the hedgehog walked off while Tails watched him, his ears drooping sadly.

' _Sonic…I almost think that you're not taking me seriously,'_ he thought.

"Uhh…hey, Tails?"

"Yeah, Sonic?"

"I was just thinking…HOW ARE WE GONNA GET DOWN FROM HERE?!"

Tails sighed in exasperation.

XXX

Later on, Sonic and Tails have made it safely back into the Mystic Ruins.

"…Well, that was weird," Sonic spoke up.

"Yeah, how'd we make it back, anyway?" Tails asked, only for Sonic to shrug in response. "Jeez…this feels almost like some kinda video game."

Sonic blinked at this.

"What?" Tails asked.

"Uh…nothing," Sonic muttered.

"So what now?" asked the kitsune.

"Hmm…" Sonic hummed thoughtfully before he grinned. "Tails, are you a betting man?"

"Am I a betting man?" Tails asked. "Well, no, I wouldn't say I…wait a second."

"Casinopolis, anyone?" Sonic asked.

And so, after momentarily going back home to get Ace, who had been surprisingly well-behaved, the duo headed to the train station to head back to Station Square.

XXX

Concurrently, in said city, a certain red echidna had just entered the city himself. Knuckles looked around as he walked down the street, feeling somewhat out of place…and by somewhat, this writer meant _very_ out of place. Seeing so many people at once in such a big city like this was certainly something new to him. Knuckles had only heard about Station Square, but truth be told, this was the first time he actually entered the city. However, right now, the echidna's mind was elsewhere.

"I have to find the missing pieces of the Master Emerald," Knuckles thought aloud. "It won't be easy. Pieces flew off just about everywhere! Now…where to start is the question."

Suddenly, Knuckles bumped into a gray wolf with golden yellow eyes, four long bangs sticking out of his forehead, a white muzzle, chest, stomach, and tail tip, and wearing a brown trench coat, a pair of black fingerless gloves, and a pair of black boots with two gray straps that were fastened by two silver buckles.

(A/N: OC cameo! XD)

"Hey!" barked the wolf. "Watch where you're going, fool!"

"Well, same to you, buddy!" Knuckles barked back.

The wolf scoffed before he kept walking, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Jeez," Knuckles muttered. "Is everyone who lives in the city like this?"

As he walked, the little ball of light floated up to him from behind.

"Knuckles, you should be able to get into City Hall," the ball spoke before flying off again, just as Knuckles whirled around to see where the voice came from.

"…I must be hearing things," the echidna muttered as he turned around and flew off, "but just in case, I think I'll check out this 'City Hall'."

Easier said than done. Due to it being his first time in the city, Knuckles didn't even know what City Hall was, let alone where it was or what it looked like. At first, he considered asking directions, but then he gasped silently as he looked down and spotted a bunch of policemen surrounding a huge building…the very building where Chaos 0 was first seen attacking.

"Is that it?" Knuckles asked before he landed on the ground and walked toward the police tape.

"Hey, buddy!" shouted an officer. "What do you think you're doing?! You can't go in there!"

"Just watch me," Knuckles said as he tore the tape off.

"Hey!" the policeman barked as he grabbed the echidna. "I just told you, you can't go in there! I don't care if you're one of Sonic's little pals! No one is allowed beyond the police tape!"

Knuckles growled at the policeman before he grabbed him and tossed him across the street to another building.

"Don't. Touch. Me," Knuckles hissed before he went on to enter City Hall. "I got a job to do and I can't have you guys getting in my way."

The other officers looked at their comrade in shock before their eyes went back to the red echidna that just threw him.

XXX

"Just as I thought…I sensed shards of the Master Emerald here."

Knuckles looked, standing on the roof that overlooked Speed Highway. He looked down, watching the cars drive by down below. Deciding he wouldn't find the shards of the Master Emerald just sitting around, the echidna jumped off the roof and glided through the sky, scanning his surroundings, but then, he spotted one behind a glass window that led into the corridor of an office building.

"Found it!" Knuckles exclaimed as he glided towards the building. Using his spiked gloves, he easily clung to the wall before he scaled up the height of the building. Then, as he reached the window, he pulled his fist back and punched the glass before grabbing the shard. Thankfully, no one was present at the time he shattered the window.

"One down, two to go," Knuckles said before stashing the shard in his dreadlocks. Then he leapt off the building before gliding off once more. He then sensed another shard coming from somewhere nearby. "Man…I'm really good at this, huh?"

"You're not just good at it," said the little ball of light, floating about his head. "You've been with the Master Emerald for so long, you've become used to its aura. You can sense whether or not it's nearby."

"Uh, yeah!" Knuckles replied. "Whatever it is you said…wait, who said that? Who are you?"

"In time, you'll know, Knuckles…in time…"

On that, the ball floated away, leaving Knuckles confused.

"…Okay, I think I've been sitting on that island for way too long," the echidna muttered, "and yet…it kinda was talking sense…wait a minute, what am I doing?! I'm wasting valuable time, talking to myself!"

He soon found another shard embedded in a statue fountain. Someone must've found it first and thought it would make nice decoration of some sort. Knuckles soon landed in the pool surrounding the fountain before pulling the shard out.

"Two down," he said before he flew off once more. "Now, where's that third shard?"

He soon got his answer, for he once again sensed a third shard somewhere on the roof of another building. As he ascended, he spotted a billboard with an advertisement for Chao Cola and a certain blue hedgehog holding a bottle of said soft drink while winking.

"Is that…Sonic?" Knuckles asked. "If this is what he looks like now, he sure has changed…although with that smug look of his, I don't know if he's changed for better or worse."

Suddenly, his inner Master Emerald Detector kicked in again, and then, **SMASH!** The billboard came flying off the building, which Knuckles easily dodged, but as he looked down, he gasped and saw that the billboard was heading right for a woman and a young girl, walking down the street. The girl shrieked as she spotted the falling billboard, prompting her mother to shield her from the sign, but just as it seemed they were about to be flattened, the billboard suddenly stopped in midair. Confused, the mother and child looked up to see Knuckles, holding the billboard above his head.

"Don't just stand there!" Knuckles shouted. "Get going!"

"Thank you, Mister Mole!" answered the little girl as she and her mother ran off.

"I'm an echidna…" Knuckles murmured under his breath, but then he turned and tossed the billboard away, but in doing so, he was suddenly tackled into a building by a large robot: more than likely one of Eggman's. It was big and round, almost like the shape of an egg, but it had a rather intimidating appearance, like glowing red eyes and a gruesome smile. As it pinned Knuckles against the building, the crimson-furred echidna felt his senses going crazy. As he looked down at the robot's chasse, he could make out a familiar glow in the tinted black window on its chest.

"There it is!" Knuckles shouted before smashed his fist right through the robot, destroying it from the inside-out and grabbing the shard to boot. Soon, the two plummeted down to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form, but as it dispersed, it is revealed that Knuckles stood over the destroyed robot, triumphantly while holding three of the Master Emerald shards.

"That's all of them here," Knuckles said before he began to make his exit. "That was surprisingly easy…but I know that the other shards won't be so easy to find."

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

For those wondering where One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is, don't worry, it's coming tomorrow.

Thanks to Ego-Man25 for giving me help on this chapter. :)

Also, the wolf in the trenchcoat that Knuckles bumped into is my OC, Dodger the Wolf. He won't have much relevance to the story, but he will have his own one shot when Sonic Adventure is finished. He'll only make small cameos every now and then.

Review please!


	4. Ch 3- A Hedgehog's Gamble

**Ch. 3- A Hedgehog's Gamble**

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega

Ace the Chao © Me

* * *

Before we continue, I'd just like to say that this chapter was co-written by me and one of my newest friends, Ego-Man25. He has an account on DA and here, too. Check out his stories when you get the chance!

* * *

Knuckles walked through the streets of Station Square, holding three of the Master Emerald shards. "I gotta find those emerald pieces..." Knuckles said. "But... why do I get the feeling that three more of them are in Casinopolis...?"

A familiar little ball of light suddenly floated by him.

"...Well, I guess there's that," the Red Rock answered himself.

He soon stopped in front of the Casinopolis Casino. "Geez..."

Casinopolis, the gambling central of Station Square. Also a very popular tourist attraction.

"...Well there's nothing wrong with the slots." Knuckles rationalized. "...Wait, what am I saying? I've never been here. What do I know about this place?"

He then looked up at the coin logo. "...Dammit, the lock systems just keep on getting more and more out there every year..." He then glanced at a building. "I'm going to get in there."

He then looked up at the coin logo. "...Dammit, the lock systems just keep on getting more and more out there every year..." He then glanced at a building. "I'm going to get in there."

That's when he scaled up the wall, jumping off the _Chaos in Space_ billboard, and glided towards the sign.

 **BONK!**

"Access Confirmed." An automated voice said. The two doors opened up.

With that, the red echidna entered. The doors soon closed behind him.

Cue Sonic and Tails entering the scene. "Well, here we are," Sonic said.

"According to my Miles Electric," Tails started, "there should be a Chaos Emerald inside."

"I've been looking at that thing a few times during our walk, and I've been getting MULTIPLE responses from it." Sonic brought up. "Does that mean anything?"

"Multiple responses?" asked Tails.

"Yeah, on that gadget there." Sonic pointed out.

Tails looked at the Miles Electric, and indeed saw three taller, and slightly greener emeralds on the screen. "Oh shoot, good eye Sonic." He turned the thing off. "I don't actually KNOW what that was, going on there. But, for the time being, we gotta focus on the Chaos Emeralds."

"Right," Sonic said. "That's priority number one, then." He then looked at the giant coin logo. "Hey Tails. Ever noticed how lock systems are getting weirder and weirder every day?"

"I have, actually," Tails answered.

"SO strange, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Makes you wonder who's the maniac who comes up with them." Tails said. "It could be you-know-who."

"Could be his way of trying to keep us out," Sonic concurred.

"Well he DID fund the majority of the casino's construction." Tails answered. "Side note: why do we let him help out with town funding?"

"Because logic." Sonic answered. "Now let's find a switch to step on!"

The Blue Blur then looked up to the sign, spotting a trail of rings. He then looked to Tails. "...Tails."

"Yeah Sonic?" Tails asked.

"...Why do I get the feeling that I'm missing an item I'd need in order to dash through those?" Sonic asked.

That's when he spotted a familiar little ball of light.

"That again?" he muttered.

"...We need to go through the sewers to get an item...?" Tails sweatdropped.

Sonic took in a deep breath, steeling his nerves...and his stomach.

 _*3 minutes later...*_

"...Ugh... bleugh..." Sonic laid down in front of the Casinopolis, thoroughly grossed out. "...I went through crazy stuff before... but Light Speed Dash was NOT worth that effort..."

"Something we both agree on, bro...!" Tails gagged.

"...Ugh... They better have a shower inside..." Sonic said, spindash charging to go through the rings.

"I couldn't agree more!" Tails added as Sonic stood up.

"Okay," Sonic said. "Ready...GO!"

He dashed through the rings and hit the button.

 **BONK!**

"Access Confirmed." That same automated voice said. The doors opened once again.

"...Showers, here we go." Sonic said.

But meanwhile, with Knuckles, he was staring up, gaping in awe at what he was seeing.

"...Woah... this place is... well this place is TALL!" Knuckles exclaimed.

A human employee walked over. "Welcome to Casinopolis, er..."

"Knuckles." Knuckles said.

"Right, Knuckles!" The employee said. "Is there anything the staff may do for you for your first time visit?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for the Master Emerald pieces," Knuckles answered.

"The...what?" asked the employee.

"Never mind, I'll find it myself," Knuckles replied as he looked around, only to see the giant golden Sonic statue in the middle of the room. "Jeez, everywhere I look, that hedgehog's face is plastered on everything!"

So as Knuckles began climbing up towards the ceiling, Sonic and Tails made their entrance. "...Still... queasy..." Sonic gagged.

The employee turned around. "Ah. Welcome to Casinopolis, Sonic the Hedgehog. I do hope the accommodations are to your liking."

"...Cool." Sonic replied. "Hey... are there any showers we can go to? Any at all?"

"They're that way," said the employee, pointing to the nearby bathroom stalls. "Please, take as much time as you need."

"Oh WE will!" Tails said full-heartedly.

As the two of them headed for the shower, Sonic mentioned, "...You know, it's weird coming into a casino like this one, only to see a giant golden statue of yourself. I was expecting that to look more like EGGMAN!"

"Don't you remember, Sonic?" Tails asked. "You saved this place last year, so they built that statue in your honor."

"...Oh yeah..." Sonic said, scratching his head. "I think I did SOMETHING like that..." He turned a shower on. "So this place was saved by me, and backed by Eggman... weird..." He then applied the soap. "...Feels GOOD..."

Tails did the same thing.

"Ahhh..." he sighed as he scrubbed at his scalp. "Much better...I wonder how Ace is doing."

 *****Short scene change*****

At Sonic and Tails' abode, a whole flock of Chao are seen, bobbing their heads to techno music as Ace, wearing Sonic's headphones, scratched the records on Sonic's turntable.

 *****Back at Casinopolis*****

"Good, probably." Sonic answered.

The two came out of the showers, and began drying themselves with towels, feeling refreshed as new. "Awright!" Tails said. "Feel like a new man!"

"Technically, we're not men," Sonic quipped. "We're a hedgehog and a fox."

"You know what I mean," Tails answered. "Since when are you technical, anyway?"

"Since I went through a sewer." Sonic answered... before realizing, "Oh God, I AM getting technical...! We gotta find us some pinball-esque level designs out in the lobby!"

"What will that...on second though, never mind," Tails started before he followed after Sonic.

Of course, Tails would receive his answer anyways when that employee came over to the two. "My apology for any inconveniences that may have required you two to take our showers first."

"Trust us, you guys are cool." Sonic said. "We're actually on the look-out for a Chaos Emerald!"

"...Follow me, you two." The employee walked ahead.

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other before they shrugged and followed after the employee...and not long after they disappeared, the Sonic statue had shattered into pieces.

"Behold... the jackpot prize." The employee pointed to the Chaos Emerald sitting atop the gold vault room they were at. "This is an anonymous donation, for the offchance that we would not be able to make enough money to provide a more by-the-books jackpot of overflowing chests of gold."

"...So we're gonna need to win rings, and then pay off the rings by standing on that switch over there?" Tails asked. "That... sounds painful... but about right."

"Well, what'd you expect from a casino, little bro?" Sonic asked.

"Well obviously, loads of bumpers, slot machines, and half-pipe ramps that you can crouch down on as you fall from such a great height to either get shot up higher, or run up walls vertically." Tails answered. "At the END of that zone, we'd be fighting one of the most frustrating bosses of that particular adventure."

"...On second thought, I can't blame you for not expecting that." Sonic conceded. "Holy cow, is this going to be different."

"Well, we gotta start somewhere," Tails replied.

So with THAT in mind, the two of them ran back to the lobby, noted the disappeared Sonic statue, and then ran to one of the teleports. "Well, after you." Tails said.

"Let's do this," Sonic said as he entered. He got warped to... a giant pinball table. "HOLY EMERALDS, TAILS! EVERYTHING FEELS WEIRD! I'M LIKE A BALL!"

Tails... was just floating there, and he sighed. "...Calm down, Sonic. Just think pinball zones."

"Right...think pinball zones..." Sonic muttered to himself. After bumping into several bumpers to get rings, plus getting launched off of the flippers... Sonic soon adjusted. "Alright, I got this."

"I got controls!" Tails called from a control room.

"NOW LET'S AIM FOR THE HIGH SCORE!" Sonic said.

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed.

So while Sonic and Tails were doing traditional pinball, Knuckles was busy gliding around the... admittedly quite elaborate ceiling, going from what appeared to be a pirate ship, to what appeared to be a castle. "Who's the nutjob that DESIGNED this place...?" He thought, coming up to a robot.

He easily smashed it with a single punch. Out came a piece of the Master Emerald, which he picked up. "...Well, my crazy hunch turned out to be RIGHT on the mark!"

He then held up another piece.

"Who'd have thought that other piece was in that statue?" he asked.

That one employee... having SOMEHOW made his way up to the ceiling, replied, "Oh, this piece? Well the gold Sonic statue was just recently crafted and delivered."

"...You are VERY good at your job." Knuckles noted in bewilderment. "But yeah, these are what I meant by pieces of the Master Emerald. Any ideas on where the last piece is would be appreciated."

"Sorry, sir," the employee shrugged.

At that, Knuckles sighed... and chuckled a bit. "...Nah, it's fine. Keep up the good work, and you might get a promotion." With that, he glided over to the pirate ship. "One more Emerald piece to collect."

That's when he spotted a moving lion statue. "...It's probably there." Knuckles said.

He then glided over and sat on the lion's nose. "...Inside the lion's maw..." Knuckles quickly realized. "I got it."

He then jumped down and tried to force the lion's mouth open. He failed. "...Ugh, this is difficult..."

The lion's mouth opened at that moment automatically, revealing the last Emerald Piece of Casinopolis.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he tried to grab it, only for the lion's mouth to shut with his arm still inside. "OW!" He also lost his rings. "...Augh..."

Then, the lion's paws slammed down before it opened its mouth again, releasing a booming roar... followed by an automated voice: "Players 1 and 2 have not passed the 100 ring mark in Sonic Pinball. Would Players 1 and 2 please make their way through the Dilapidated Way sewer system?"

Knuckles snagged the Master Emerald Piece. "I got it!" He then thought, "...Still, eugh... sucks to be whoever THOSE two are..."

 *****Scene change*****

"HOW DID WE END UP BACK DOWN HERE?!" Sonic questioned.

Tails looked at all the rings and ring containers that were ahead of them. "...And why are there so many RINGS down here...?"

"...This is my life now." Sonic realized. "Gambling led me over to the sewers again." He turned to the fourth wall. "Remember kids: don't gamble carelessly. Otherwise, you'll be in the sewers... just like me...!"

"And that's no good," Tails added.

Having gotten the PSA out the of the way, Sonic began running ahead. "Well as long as we're in the sewers AGAIN, we might as well just race to the bathroom entrance, collecting as many rings as possible."

Tails sneered before he whirled his namesakes and began to speed off.

Though Tails zoomed ahead the first slope due to his natural propelled flight, Sonic charged up his Light Speed dash, dashing through the rings to zoom pass Tails (getting several ring containers along the way).

They then got to the first updraft room of The Dilapidated Way. It was here that they also caught several more rings. Which was amazing, given how STRONG the drafts were carrying them, flipping them over. Unfortunately, it didn't help their queasiness.

So naturally they took the first exit they could, which contained a ventilation system full of ring containers. Then they hurriedly climbed up a ladder.

Tails SOMEHOW managed to get up there first. "...SWEET MERCIFUL CHAOS, THAT WAS AWFUL...!"

Sonic pushed his way passed him.

"SHOWER!" he cried. And the shower blessed him with the rains of cleanliness.

"Ahhhh...thank the heavens...!" the blue hedgehog whispered.

Tails took a shower not long after. "...So is this a victory for me?"

"Honestly Tails, HAVE that victory." Sonic answered full heartedly. "Let's just pay this place our rings and take the Chaos Emerald, before going on our merry way."

"I only ask because of what happened in Windy Valley," Tails said.

"...Sorry about that." Sonic said. "That was wrong of me, and I shoulda been straightforward to just pick up that emerald."

"...Thank you for that." Tails sighed in relief. "Next time, though, don't go easy on me, alright?"

"I just wanted you to have something to feel good about," Sonic answered.

"Felt empty." Tails answered, scrubbing around his ears. "Did I mention these showers are amazing?"

"Yeah, I can kinda see that now..." Sonic rubbed his head. "We good now?"

Tails exited the show, and dried off with a towel, before smiling. "Yeah, we're good."

"Sweet," Sonic smiled back.

"Now let's get the hell out of Casinopolis." Tails said, dragging Sonic along through the lobby.

As they did, they unwittingly passed by Knuckles, who was busy trying to find the exit. And they went straight to the vault. "Come to papa." Sonic said

That's when two claws reached down, grabbed the hedgehog, and violently shook him, causing him to lose all his hard-earned rings. Somehow, the rings turned into Sonic tokens that all filled up the vault quite nicely, thus allowing the two to jump up to the Chaos Emerald quite easily.

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed as he grabbed it.

"Awesome, we got another Chaos Emerald!" Sonic said.

"We're beating Eggman by a long shot!" Tails added.

"Yeah!" Sonic agreed. "I mean there's no POSSIBLE way that he could be waiting outside, waiting to ambush us with sleep gas, only to steal our Chaos Emeralds! None!"

"...Right," Tails said. "Anyway, let's get going."

So by some miracle (along with helpful assistance from that one employee), Sonic and Tails managed to find their way out of Casinopolis. However, the moment they stepped outside, they were blindsided.

"BOOM, SHAKALAKA!" Robotnik hammed. "NOW EAT SLEEP GAS!" A purple gas was emitted from the back of the Egg Mobile, spraying Sonic and Tails as they were racing to grab the Chaos Emerald they dropped: the blue one.

However, they were soon knocked. "Nighty night, Tails..." Sonic got conked out.

Tails followed suit right afterwards. "Oh man..."

Back in the casino, Knuckles was holding six, count them, six pieces of the Master Emerald. "Alright, so far so good." Knuckles said. "It's still gonna take me a while, but... I feel like I'm making progress."

But then, that familiar ball of light came fluttering around him until it surrounded him in a blinding flash. "Gwah!" He cried out.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in what looked like the Mystic Ruins...just not so...well, ruins-ish.

"...Woah... this is kinda trippy..." He muttered.

He then proceeded to look around; Going around the pyramid, seeing all the different echidnas running along, he soon came upon an exit. There, he saw two echidnas.

"Wait...echidnas...?" he whispered.

"Father! Please don't!" The younger, peach colored echidna said.

"Tikal, the 7 Chaos Emeralds are essential to our survival!" the older, brown-furred echidna holding a staff answered. "It is for the good of all our people."

The peach colored echidna named Tikal asked, "How can I make you understand? Attacking other countries, killing and stealing... can't be the right path to peace. No one has the right to take their holy ground." She then said, "I beg you father!"

"Hey!" Knuckles cried, but then the flash of light blinded him again. When he came to, he was outside Casinopolis. "...Woah... that was nuts..."

That's when he realized he was outside, and that's also when he spotted Sonic and Tails, lying on the ground.

"What's wrong with those two?" he asked.

"Ohohohohoho..." A certain scientist cackled, riding along around them.

"...He CANNOT be up to good." Knuckles decided, and with that, he followed Robotnik.

The evil scientist entered an elevator...and that's when Knuckles spotted something in the doctor's hand. It had an... emerald-like shine to it. "...That's a Master Emerald! Dr. Eggman! Back here now!"

The elevator closed before the echidna could reach the evil doctor. "...Great. Now I have to play the waiting game." Knuckles sighed.

 **DING!** The door opened.

Knuckles stepped in. "Well that was quick," he said.

The doors closed.

Inside, elevator music played. He couldn't help but hum a little.

Soon, the doors opened up. And there was Robotnik in plain sight.

"Alright Eggman! Let go of that Master Emerald piece right now!" Knuckles yelled as he was running towards the doctor.

Robotnik turned around. "Wait, Master Emerald...?" He caught onto that fact. "Oh, you think I'm involved with the Master Emerald AGAIN? Bwahahahaha!" He laughed, and then he stopped. "No, I'm looking after DIFFERENT emeralds." He beheld the silver emerald in his hand. "Get a load of this!"

That's when a familiar blob of blue goo slithered up beside the doctor, and then took the form of Chaos 1.

"Wait, that's-!" Knuckles was caught off guard. "That's the thing that was on my island when it FELL! And when the Master Emerald shattered!"

That was when Robotnik tossed his Chaos Emerald towards Chaos 1. "Change, Chaos!"

Chaos 1 absorbed the Chaos Emerald, transforming in a flash of light, and soon after it dissipated, he had become Chaos 2, a bone-like structure in his other arm.

Knuckles remained unfazed, however. "Well, a change in appearance isn't going to faze me. He broke my Master Emerald, so I'm gonna take him out."

And thus, the battle began.

 **BOSS: CHAOS 2**

The first thing Chaos 2 did was morph into a ball that was bouncing, in hopes to crush Knuckles. "Nice try!" the echidna shouted as he glided away from him.

When Chaos 2 reverted to its top-heavy bipedal form, Knuckles redirected the glide right INTO him, causing damage!

"How do you like that?!" the echidna grinned.

Chaos 2 apparently did not like that much, for he morphed back into his bouncing mode. Thus began the process of dodging him once again. Knuckles glided out his way, attempting to hit him once more, but this time, Chaos 2 morphed back to his bipedal form and tried to stretch his arms at him, attempting to grab him.

"Woah!" Knuckles swerved midair, before swerving again for the second hit!

Chaos 2 dispersed the moment the echidna's fists connected with his brain.

"GAH!" Dr. Robotnik growled. "...Okay, so you beat him THIS time."

"What are you up to, this time, Eggman?" Knuckles asked.

"You would very much LIKE to know that, wouldn't you Knuckles?" Dr. Robotnik replied.

"Why are you siding with that...whatever-it-is?!" Knuckles questioned. "I want answers and I want 'em now!"

"Chaos." Robotnik corrected. "And I'm just working on getting the CHAOS Emeralds right now! I'm not going to say my plans are different. However, someone else IS going off the status quote..."

"Someone else?" asked Knuckles. "Someone like who?"

"Oh, you know," Robotnik answered. "A certain blue hedgehog and his vulpine pal."

"...But that guy is just fine." Knuckles said.

"Well, about that..." Robotnik trailed off. "Did you know that he's collecting the Master Emerald pieces as well?"

"...Say what?" Knuckles growled.

"Oh yeah, he's totally doing that for real." Robotnik lied.

"...Still, even if he WAS, I doubt he'd be doing it without a good reason." Knuckles said.

"Sure, whatever." Robotnik said. "Still, he and Tails went through TWO SEWERS so far to do so! Clearly, that isn't healthy, but if you insist..." He started walking ahead.

"W-Wait!" Knuckled ran ahead.

Robotnik smirked at this.

Knuckles stood there in the middle of the dining room. "...Why would Sonic be going after the Master Emeralds...? Why would he go through two sewers...?" He shook his head. "...If nothing else, I gotta see for myself what's up with him..." He then saw that one Casinopolis employee at a table, enjoying a meal. "...Were you watching this fight the entire time, without LEAVING?!"

"Yeah." The employee answered. "Two jobs. So are you gonna go to Mystic Ruins or what?"

Knuckles sighed. "...Might as well."

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

Review, please!


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